Sunday, August 10, 2008

NZ: Visiting Family in the Waikato

We've spent most of the last week with Mum's side of the family. We stayed with Uncle David and Auntie Jean (Mum's sister) on their farm. Enjoyed lots of good food and got in touch with nature!My Auntie is very gifted in wool crafts and weaving... this is her workroom with the looms she uses. She gave me a beautiful sweater and scarf that she made. They have a spa on their back veranda which we jumped in every night we were there. A couple of nights we were able to see the stars and located the Southern Cross. My uncle is involved with a nature reserve where they have erradicated imported pests (like mice and rabbits and cats) and are reintroducing endangered native species in an effort to save them in their natural habitat. It was really cool to see it up close. We were really priviledged to see these birds below called Takahe. We also saw Kaka birds, which are like brown parrots - but I didn't get a picture. These birds roam wild but are tame enough that when their "keeper" calls them they show up for a snack.

A short hike through the Maungatautari Reserve:

We also visited my cousin, Pam, and her husband on their dairy farm. They raise Jersey cows. Here she is below with the calves that have been born in the past month. (Only the heifers are kept.) Here's her husband and a helper getting ready to milk the cows.A cow with her new-born calf (only a few hours old here). Dad - enjoying one of the many pets we've been meeting :) We spent last night with Dad's cousin, Kevin, and wife, Trena, and enjoyed visiting their church in Matamata this morning.